I take it that the seminar has already passed, but I just want to give my two cents on it. As someone who did not understand pinball at all when I was little and was turned off for it for decades, I feel it’s very important for any pinball fan to help lower the barrier of entry.
I made a topic over here some time ago discussing what non-players do. That might be helpful.
Agreed 100%. In pretty much anything, I would say that’s one of the best things to learn: Watching someone else do something, then asking that person if there’s something you don’t understand. If you’re the one answering the questions, you also have to watch out for if they’re NOT asking questions pertaining to something though: Either the observer fully understands it, or they never even noticed it. For instance, most non-players do not know there are modes, even when they’re watching. If they’re not asking any questions pertaining to modes, odds are they’re not noticing they exist.
I see that sort of game so very often. Actually, sometimes, I also see them leave during Player 4’s first ball, because they know a game is 3 balls long and they leave after draining the third ball unaware they’ve been playing a 4-player game. Machines particularly vulnerable to people mashing the start button are ones with cutscenes at the beginning, such as Tales of the Arabian Nights, or ones where you’re required to select something before beginning, like Metallica. They think mashing the start button will make the game begin faster, akin to how they’ll mash the walk signal button at a crosswalk.
As for the match feature, that’s not a thing that happens in any other type of arcade game, so I can understand why people would just walk away. Even if the DMD reads “Match Game,” how would a non-player know what it means? How would a non-player know what the knocker sound means?
I’ve spoken with people who were unaware of points too, by the way. They think a game of pinball is about how long you can last.